Bitcoin MVRV Ratio

What the MVRV ratio is

MVRV — Market Value to Realized Value — compares what the market says Bitcoin is worth today against what the network, on average, actually paid for its coins. It's one of the most-cited on-chain valuation gauges because it reduces "is this expensive or cheap?" to a single, intuitive multiple: how many times its own cost basis is the market currently trading at? At 1.0 the two are equal — the average holder is exactly break-even.

How it's calculated

MVRV is market cap ÷ realized cap — or equivalently, spot price ÷ realized price, since dividing both cap figures by supply cancels out:

MVRV = market cap ÷ realized cap = spot price ÷ realized price

Market cap values every coin at today's spot price; realized cap values each coin at the price it last moved (the aggregate cost basis). We compute both from our own Bitcoin full node's UTXO-age index joined with daily price, so the ratio is reproducible from the chain rather than taken from a vendor feed.

How to read it — the 1.0 line

The reference line at 1.0 is where market cap equals realized cap. Above 1.0, the market trades above its aggregate cost basis and the average holder sits in unrealized profit; below 1.0, the market is underwater on average. Historically, MVRV dipping below 1 has clustered around deep bear markets and cycle bottoms, while stretched high readings have coincided with late-cycle tops.

One important caveat on the high side: the level that counted as "extreme" has drifted lower each cycle as the market matured — earlier cycles topped at much higher MVRV than recent ones. That drift is exactly why the MVRV Z-Score exists: it standardises the ratio against its own history so extremes read consistently across eras. Use the raw ratio here for the intuitive cost-basis multiple, and the Z-Score when you want comparable extremes over time.

Related: MVRV Z-Score · NUPL · Realized Cap · Realized Price · all on-chain charts

Caveats

MVRV rests on realized cap, which is an on-chain approximation of cost basis rather than a ledger of dollars paid: lost and long-dormant coins keep an old, low price stamp, and internal movements (exchange consolidations, self-transfers) re-stamp coins without a real change of ownership — both tilt the ratio slightly. And as noted above, the "expensive" threshold is not a fixed number across cycles. Read MVRV as a robust valuation baseline, not a precise trigger — and, as with every metric here, as information rather than advice.

Frequently asked

What is the Bitcoin MVRV ratio?
MVRV — Market Value to Realized Value — is market cap divided by realized cap, equivalently spot price divided by realized price. It measures how far the market is trading above or below the network’s aggregate cost basis. MVRV of 1.0 is break-even; above 1 the average holder is in profit, below 1 underwater.

What does an MVRV below 1 mean?
It means market cap has fallen below realized cap — the market is worth less than the aggregate price people paid for their coins, so the average holder is underwater. Historically, sustained readings below 1 have clustered around deep bear markets and cycle bottoms.

What is the difference between MVRV and the MVRV Z-Score?
The raw MVRV is the plain ratio. The MVRV Z-Score standardises that ratio against its own historical volatility, so an "extreme" reads consistently across different eras of the market instead of drifting cycle to cycle. Use the raw ratio for the intuitive cost-basis multiple; use the Z-Score to compare extremes over time.

Is MVRV a buy or sell signal?
No. It is an informational on-chain valuation gauge, not financial advice. It describes where price sits relative to the network’s aggregate cost basis; it does not predict price.